BACK COVER #
Religion & the Decline of Magic is Keith Thomas's classic history of the magical beliefs held by people on every level of English society in the 16th and 17th centuries and how these beliefs were a part of the religious and scientific assumptions of the time. It is not only a major historical and religious work, but a thoroughly enjoyable book filled with fascinating facts and original insights into an area of human nature that remains controversial today --the velief in the supernatural that still continues in the modern world.BLURBS #
"This is a brilliant, thoughtful and fascinating work which deals with systems of belief that were current in 16th and 17th century England, but which echoes with the survival of beliefs in magic after than period and even to our own."-- Los Angeles Times
"Religion & the Decline of Magic provides a brilliant synthesis of the forms of magic at work in 16th and 17th century England ... Thoas's achievement is remarkable."
-- Journal of Modern History